Grandma’s 5 Cup Creamy Fruit Salad

Our cute Grandma A. is an amazing cook! Many of our best recipes are from her kitchen. This fruit salad was a staple at most family get-togthers and the best part about it is that you don’t have to have any experience in the kitchen to whip it up! It is just a matter of dumping five ingredients in a bowl and mixing it together. It is a perfect side dish to any meal or is great to take to any pot-luck dinner (it can easily be doubled or tripled). There are SO many variations of this salad (I included a couple below), but I like the original way my Grandma makes it best.

*Don’t be scared of the sour cream! I know it sounds weird. I promise that all the sweetness from the other ingredients evens it all out. It’s delicious!

Directions:Make sure your fruit is VERY well-drained or you will have a watery salad. Combine the oranges, pineapple, marshmallows, coconut, and sour cream. Stir until all mixed together. Refrigerate for 4-8 hours before serving.

Variations: -Use vanilla yogurt in place of sour cream.-Use Pina Colada yogurt in place of sour cream.-Add 1/2 cup maraschino cherries.-Add chopped pecans for a crunch.-Top with corn flakes for a crunch.-Use Cool-Whip in place of sour cream.

A friend of mine brought five cups salad to a pot luck once – it was delicious! She also said the recipe was a family classic. I may just have to try making this. I wonder if plain greek yogurt would work in place of sour cream? I think probably!

My mom always made this but without the coconut. The sour cream shouldn’t worry anyone. If you let this refrigerate (even over night!) it picks up the sugars from the fruits and the marshmallows! It’s delicious!

I have made this salad for about 20 years! I cannot eat any kind of fruit salad made with cool whip anymore. Sour cream makes it so much creamier. My husband (boyfriend at the time) didn’t like coconut, so I substituted the coconut for apples. It’s yummy and adds a great crunch. =)

I have made this salad for about 20 years! I cannot eat any kind of fruit salad made with cool whip anymore. Sour cream makes it so much creamier. My husband (boyfriend at the time) didn’t like coconut, so I substituted the coconut for apples. It’s yummy and adds a great crunch. =)

Just saw this on Pinterest and had to check it out…it’s the exact same recipe that my family calls “Aunt Frieda’s Marshmallow Salad”! Aunt Frieda was my great aunt and my dad says she was old when he was a kid! She could down a beer like no one’s business and you’d better keep your hands away from the car door when she was slamming it closed! Aunt Frieda would make it every Sunday to bring to the family lake house and it was the best thing ever. People hear the ingredients and think yuck but it is really good. Thanks for sharing it!

I love it when people make this but I can never have it. I’m allergic to coconut. Consider making it without coconut if you are going to a party. You’d be surprised how many people are actually allergic. I like to volunteer to make it and I bring a little container of coconut because someone will usually say, “Oh, I love this. Wait! Who forgot to put in the coconut?” This way they can add their own.

Sour Cream?! I’m gonna have to try this! My mom made a similar one that I loooove. Mandarin oranges, mini mallows, cool whip, and a packet of orange Jello (still in powdered form!). We never have leftovers when she made it. 🙂

I actually made Watergate salad for the first time the other day (coconut flakes, cottage cheese, pistachio pudding packet, cool whip, crushed pineapple, walnuts, cherries, etc). It was AMAZING! This recipe reminds me of it.

A slightly healthier version (wouldn’t be as creamy as yours) is to just add tons of fruit and throw in 2 Tbsp of dry vanilla pudding mix. It makes a delicious glaze with the juices of the fruits, and it’s not too sweet. Perfect for breakfast OR Dessert OR a side!

My grandmother and mom often made this at Christmas when growing up. It was a universal tradition. I believe I will prepare it for our Christmas celebration this year. Oh yeah, do not ruin the recipe with Cool Whip, which is anything but “cool”! That concoction is nothing but a lot of chemicals I can’t even pronounce. Use the sour cream. The fruit is the sweetener. Happy Holidays!

I was looking in my cabinet. Just standing there looking t what was there and saw a can of Mandarin Oranges and thought Oh I know what I’ll do, make a 5 cup salad. It’s been years since I made one, Had to look it up to see what I needed, Happily I have every thing . It will be a surprise for my daughter, It was her favorite when she was a child She will be happy if her taste has not changed.

Hi Cherry! Don’t you just love when you look in the cabinet and you have all the ingredients for a recipe!! No running to the store for one or two items!! Have a great week and enjoy your 5 cup salad!!!

Welcome friends!

There are six of us girls...no boys! Now that we have grown up and moved far apart from each other, we use this blog to stay in touch and share our ideas. Feel free to take a look around and learn more about us HERE.